‘Tank Man’ stood tall in Tiananmen Square — yet remains unidentified more than 20 years later

By HELEN KENNEDY

|NEW YORK DAILY NEWS|

Jun 05, 2012 | 6:47 AM

A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man has never been identified. (JEFF WIDENER/AP)

It's been 23 years, and the world still doesn't know his name.

When the skinny, slope-shouldered guy in a white shirt and black pants holding two plastic grocery bags, stepped in front of a column of government tanks rolling near the uprising in Tiananmen Square, he stepped into history.

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The mystery man immediately became "Tank Man," a powerful symbol of non-violent resistance. The photo became the one of history's most vivid depictions of an individual taking on the power of the state.

BBC video of the moment showed the man's simple bravery as he stood his ground in the middle of Beijing's Chang'an Avenue as more than a dozen tanks came rolling towards him, then shuddered to a stop when he refused to move.

Looking tiny next to the hulking tanks, the man swung one of his shopping bags up and over in a "shoo" gesture.

Jeff Widener/AP

Chinese troops and tanks gather in Beijing, June 5, 1989, one day after the military crackdown that ended a seven week pro-democracy demonstration on Tiananmen Square.

When the lead tank lumbered right to go around him, Tank Man darted right. When it went left, he went left.

Chinese troops and tanks gather in Beijing, June 5, 1989, one day after the military crackdown that ended a seven week pro-democracy demonstration on Tiananmen Square. (Jeff Widener/AP)

After a brief standoff, Tank Man climbed onto the machine and appeared to be trying to talk to the men inside.

Then two men came running up and dragged him away.

The iconic image, smuggled out of China under the noses of officials who destroyed photographers' film, appeared on the front page of newspapers around the world — everywhere but in China, where it was happening.

The drama took place during the mass student-run demonstrations for economic reform and political freedom that erupted in April 1989. Protests took place all over China, but the heart of the movement was in Beijing's enormous Tiananamen Square.

CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun on June 5, 1989 as tanks took position at Beijing's key intersections next to the diplomatic compound.

The idealistic protests grew over the course of several weeks, until Party authorities decided to crush the uprising and sent in the military using live fire on June 4.

Chinese onlookers run away as a soldier threatens them with a gun on June 5, 1989 as tanks took position at Beijing's key intersections next to the diplomatic compound. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Beijing residents rushed into the streets to stop the soldiers, but could not.

The square was cleared and the student leaders who lived were jailed. The number of dead is unknown; estimates range from several hundred to thousands.

The fate of Tank Man, who carried out his famous act of civil disobedience on June 5, is unknown.

Some say he went into hiding, others say he was executed.

While most of the world reveres him as a hero, his story is largely unknown in China, where continued censorship ensures that most Chinese don't know what happened in June 1989.